"Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements."
Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Pentagon Deploys Security Team to Libya

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2012 – Defense
Secretary Leon E. Panetta has authorized deployment of a Marine Corps fleet
antiterrorism security team to Libya to protect U.S. citizens there and to
secure the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said
here today.

During a Pentagon news conference,
Little said Panetta strongly condemns the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic
facilities in the Middle East.

“The secretary extends his deepest
sympathies to the families of the victims and to the entire State Department
family,” Little said. “The department has been working with the White House and
State Department to provide resources to support the security of U.S. personnel
and facilities in Libya.”

Little said the Defense Department
supported the evacuation of American personnel and casualties out of Libya and
is supporting the repatriation of the remains of the four State Department
personnel, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who were killed in the
attack late Tuesday on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey also have worked over the past 48 hours
with combatant commanders throughout the region to conduct reviews of their
force postures, he said. They also are working “to ensure that we have the
flexibility to respond to requests for assistance or orders as directed by the
president of the United States,” he added.

Little said the focus of the Defense
Department is now on supporting whole-of-government efforts to provide security
to American personnel in Libya and elsewhere, working closely with the State
Department, “and then supporting any efforts that we may be called upon to
assist in the effort to, as the president said, ‘deliver justice.’”

“The FBI and Department of Justice have
opened an investigation into this tragic event,” Little said. “Obviously, we
will cooperate fully if called upon to support their investigation.

“Rest assured that this department is
going to work very closely with our interagency partners to help investigate
[and], if we're called upon, to assist,” he continued. “And we will play our
part in getting to the root of what happened.”